News 12:00

BULLETIN 17th October 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Mchunu warns pouring funds into one police unit won’t solve gangsterism on the Cape Flats
# SARS reminds taxpayers of the 20 October filing deadline
# And soccer: McKenzie pledges a five-million-rand bonus for World Cup-bound Bafana Bafana

# Police minister Senzo Mchunu told Parliament’s ad hoc committee pouring funds into a single police unit will not solve gangsterism on the Cape Flats in Cape Town. Mchunu appeared before the committee for the first time to present his account in the ongoing investigation into political interference in the criminal justice system. He said focusing too heavily on one area limits the police’s ability to tackle violence affecting communities nationwide:

# The Presidency says the national dialogue process has reached a pivotal stage, with the completion of the nomination of sectoral representatives to the steering committee. The national convention held in August approved the mandate, responsibilities and composition of the committee. The Presidency says no less than 26 sectors have submitted nominations for the committee. It adds that the committee would be supported and guided by the Eminent Persons Group, prominent South Africans tasked with championing the dialogue and providing advice.

# The commissioner of the South African Revenue Service, Edward Kieswetter, has urged non-provisional taxpayers to submit their annual income-tax returns by Monday. So far, 7.9-million taxpayers have filed, with over 850-thousand still outstanding. Kieswetter warned that failure to file is a serious offence, attracting penalties and interest. He commended taxpayers who submitted early, saying compliance strengthens public services and urged others to file now to avoid last-minute errors and delays.

Moving abroad:

# The UK’s domestic security service, MI-5, is warning that Britain faces an escalating threat from hostile countries including Iran, Russia and China, while the terrorism risk remains huge. The UK has seen a 35-percent rise in the number of suspects investigated for possibly working for a hostile foreign government last year. MI-5 head Ken McCallum says what is concerning is that one in five of the 232 terrorism arrests last year involved minors under 17:

# Soccer: Sport, Arts and Culture minister Gayton McKenzie has pledged five-million-rand in bonuses for Bafana Bafana players and staff after they qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 16 years. McKenzie made the announcement in the dressing room following their 3-0 victory over Rwanda, praising their resilience. He also commended coach Hugo Broos for transforming the team, saying the squad has made the nation proud.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-47-cents and the euro at 20-rand-44-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-44-cents and Bitcoin trades at 105-thousand-179-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-341-dollars-25-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 60-dollars-37-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….